


Divergence

by Lelek



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-22
Updated: 2012-04-22
Packaged: 2017-11-04 02:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/388678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lelek/pseuds/Lelek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twenty stories that may or may not be true.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Divergence

**Author's Note:**

> Another fic that was originally posted on LJ and written long before Series 2 aired.

In London, a very large city in a very old country (relatively speaking), there once lived a man called Sherlock Holmes. It was an odd name, out of fashion and fantastical, like something from a book, and for as long as he could remember he'd been alone. Had anyone asked (they rarely did), he would have said that he liked things that way. Having other people in his life would only have slowed him down.

But then one day he met a man, a brave and good man with a limp that wasn't real, and Sherlock liked him for no reason at all. That man was called John (an ordinary name for a deceptively ordinary man) and, even though he didn't deserve it, he was alone, too. So they agreed to live together. It felt like the right thing to do.

Amazing things followed. They were so different from one another, and at first it seemed that their partnership might not work out after all, but their souls entwined and slowly (far too slowly) their bodies followed. 

There are many stories about what happened next, and some of them may even be true.

-

1\. The first time they touched, properly touched, it was a little bit clumsy and a little bit awkward and a little bit inexplicably perfect. John didn't have much experience with men, and Sherlock didn't have much experience at all, but they knew each other so well that somehow they fit together anyway.

2\. Despite all of his claims to the contrary, Sherlock knew that John was ashamed of them. Ashamed of Sherlock. He pretended it didn't matter, that he didn't even realise it, but that was a lie.

3\. Everything changed in the wake of Moriarty, leaving Baker Street quiet in a way that was no longer comfortable. One day John left and didn't return.

4\. Really, they'd been going on dates since the week they met, but it was different after they stopped being just-friends. They never talked about how it had changed, but both of them enjoyed it immensely. It felt like a secret they shared - the best possible kind.

5\. Exactly two weeks after Sherlock finally lost to Moriarty once and for all, John moved out of their flat and never let himself look back.

6\. One day Sherlock and John disappeared together. It inconvenienced everyone, but no one was really surprised.

7\. It took some adjustment and compromise on both sides, but eventually they were able to figure out how things would work when John loved sex and Sherlock hated it. Neither of them bothered pretending it was easy, but people have put up with stranger things for love.

8\. Questions of sociopathy aside, it was a fact that Sherlock found expressing emotions difficult. That was how John knew, on the rare occasion that Sherlock said he loved him, that it was always true.

9\. It hurt more than John would ever be able to say that, despite how happy they'd seemed, Sherlock's boredom and disdain for the world were nonetheless enough to drive him back to cocaine.

10\. Sherlock knew statistically that romantic love wore off after an average of four years, so he was careful to put on his best poker face and say nothing when John told him that they needed to take a break. He tried and failed to ignore the voice in his head that whispered _inevitable._

11\. Things may have changed between them, but daily life at Baker Street continued on as usual. John was happier about that than he let on, not sure how he could have handled a new sort of domesticity, but he suspected Sherlock knew, anyway.

12\. There was no reason to do it, no occasion or cause for celebration, so John was surprised when Sherlock simply smiled and agreed to his proposed trip to the seaside.

13\. Sherlock never forgave himself for indirectly murdering the best man he'd ever known.

14\. John was an emotional person, so Sherlock appreciated his restraint when it came to excessive gestures of affection. He knew it was difficult for him and tried, in his own way, to let it be known that he was grateful.

15\. As time went on, they tired of their life in London and, to surprisingly widespread dismay, decided one cold winter afternoon that nothing sounded better than an extended holiday abroad. They weren't heard from for almost two years.

16\. There had been no shortage of fights between them over the years, but eventually John's patience wore thin and Sherlock finally crossed the line into the unforgivable. John moved out shortly thereafter and never returned.

17\. Despite insisting that he loathed sentimentalism, Sherlock never forgot a single anniversary, even ones John would have dismissed as silly and unimportant.

18\. Sherlock had proven to be a very affectionate lover and John was sure he would never stop being surprised by the days when he couldn't sit on the sofa for more than five minutes before Sherlock would all but land in his lap for a cuddle. 

19\. Sherlock tried as hard as he could, but he never stopped worrying that one day John would find someone better for him and leave.

20\. Many years later, when they were too old for all that racing around London after criminals nonsense, they bought a house in the country where John could write about all their adventures and Sherlock could try his hand at keeping bees. They never regretted that decision.


End file.
